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The instant that thought surfaced, Xuan Ming was struck by a fierce sense of absurdity—followed by a surging, self-directed fury.
It was aimed at the cowardly notion that had flickered through his mind on countless suffocating nights, when the burden felt unbearable.
Yes—he admitted it!
During those long, grueling days, when he'd faced the pressure of the God Realm alone, racked his brains for the Dragon Clan's future, and lain awake bearing the guilt of millions of dead, he had more than once thought: If… if only he'd never leapt into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, never provoked the lingering Souls of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings, never waded into the Dragon Clan's mess—would life have been easier? Would he have been spared this weight? Could he have become the "normal" powerhouse Qian Renxue once promised, living a relatively "peaceful" life?
That thought had been a narcotic, granting fleeting, illusory comfort in his most exhausted moments.
But now, inside this illusion woven by a God King's will to expose his weaknesses, the same thought brought not solace but… a tidal wave of rage!
Rage that he had ever entertained it!
Rage at the coward who had considered "giving up"!
What of the Ice Dragon King?!
The sister who had entrusted her last hope to him, surrendered her remnant Soul and strength, and silently, steadfastly accompanied him down the hardest road—could he abandon her?!
What of Gu Yuena?!
The Silver Dragon King who had staked the entire Dragon Clan's future—her own fate—on him! The woman cold without yet carrying the grief and hope of her race—could he abandon her?!
What of Bi Ji, Zi Ji… all those Spirit Beasts deep in Star Dou Great Forest who had placed their trust in him, awaiting the Dragon Clan's revival?!
Could he abandon them?!
And… what of the man who, through despair and life-or-death choices, had clawed his way to today—himself?!
Could Xuan Ming, who chose to shoulder everything to walk his own path, allow himself, here and now, to nullify every past sacrifice for the mere lure of "ease"?!
Impossible!!!
A short, cold laugh escaped his throat, thick with self-mockery and resolve.
That instant of wavering melted like snow under blazing sun.
The past him might have flinched from coming storms; the present him no longer measured life by the span of his feet.
Without hesitation—and too impatient to explain to Dugu Bo beside him—
A dark-red Blood Spear condensed in his grip; one yellow and one purple spirit ring rose, light swirling.
He leapt from the cliff, the spear cleaving the air with unstoppable momentum.
Using the brief flight of his second Spirit Ability, Startling Thunder, and his Domain's protection, he skimmed precisely and swiftly past both sides of the spring.
The spear's edge flashed, cleanly severing the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass; in one fluid motion he reversed the jade dagger Dugu Bo had given him and sliced the Lihuo Aprict Jiao.
The two extreme hot-and-cold Immortal Herbs landed in his grip; terrifying toxins instantly gnawed at his palms, frost and burn marks blooming together.
Without a glance Xuan Ming crammed both lethal herbs into his mouth; their liquefying potency became twin torrents of ice and fire rampaging through his body.
Red and blue light violently alternated across his skin—now iced, now crimson. Agony wracked him; veins bulged at his temples.
Yet no retreat showed in his eyes, only icy resolve.
He turned toward the churning red-and-blue spring—the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well that could slay even a Titled Douluo—
Then, to Dugu Bo's shout of "You lunatic!", Xuan Ming dove, frame resolute, straight into the dead-center vortex!
The waters surged, swallowing him whole.
Perhaps once, for a heartbeat, he had regretted the thorn-strewn road.
But now, immersed in that font of ruin and rebirth, feeling the ice-and-fire force trying to tear him apart and the faint resonance deep in his Soul with the two Dragon Kings, Xuan Ming closed his eyes and let the tempest scour body and will.
He felt no regret…
Outside the illusion, the five God Kings sensing this through their sigils fell briefly silent.
They could feel that the instant Xuan Ming chose, his heart held neither greed for draconic power nor calculation of divine risk, but… absolute acceptance of his own path and utter contempt for the thought of "quitting"!
He had even rushed toward that destined-hard road in fury!
"This boy…" the God of Destruction murmured, eyes flickering with mixed feeling.
"He isn't choosing power—he's… confirming himself," Asura God narrowed blood-red eyes.
The God of Kindness and the Goddess of Life exchanged a look; both saw gravity mirrored there.
Xuan Ming's reaction had slipped their preset "temptation-choice" mold.
"Interesting," the God of Evil curled his lips. "He loathes the self who once longed for 'ease'!"
"Still… not enough."
Facing choice, success, suffering, and despair, Xuan Ming had given unequivocal answers.
But what of facing failure?
Facing irretrievable loss—like the void he'd felt when he thought the Ice Dragon King would never return—how would he fare?
…The illusion popped like a bubble, vanishing soundlessly.
Xuan Ming's consciousness was hurled once more into that familiar, anchor-less void.
Every memory tied to the regret-born fury, the figure plunging into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—all was quietly erased by an unseen hand, leaving no trace.
When he "opened" his eyes again and re-anchored to reality, the scene remained the same: the boundless desolation of Dragon Valley within the Dragon Tomb.
Yet this time the atmosphere was utterly different!
No longer the relative calm of converging energy and Law insight, but… chaos and rampage!
Rumble—!!!
In the sky, grey Dragon Soul mists roiled, thunderous roars shaking the heavens—no longer low laments but howls of violence, resentment, and unwillingness!
On the ground, countless gigantic dragon bones seemed to live, exhaling heart-stopping pressure!
Solid phantoms of Dragon Souls rose from the bones—some fierce, some majestic, yet every pair of eyes burned with wrath, fixed on Xuan Ming hovering at the valley's center!
"Roar—!!!"
"Human!!!"
"Ant stealing Dragon Clan power!!!"
"You are unworthy of our glory!!!"
The gathered malice of myriad Dragon Souls became a storm of psychic spears, billions of needles stabbing at his divine soul core!
They were no longer mere "fuel" for power but vengeful spirits of hostility!
In life these Souls had been mighty dragons; fallen here, their remnant spirits nursed endless grief for their race's fall and bitter hatred for the foe who caused it!
Now, sensing a non-pureblood, even human-scented being crazily siphoning the Dragon Tomb's Origin to condense a godhood, their most sensitive nerve snapped!
Why should a human without orthodox Dragon King Bloodline receive the legacy amassed over ten thousand years?!
He thinks only of the Ice Dragon King, of Gu Yuena, of personal promises—does he spare a thought for the Dragon Clan's collective future?!
Such "selfishness" ignited in thousands of Dragon Souls the ultimate fury of being used and defiled!
They rent his divine soul, tormented his will, striving to annihilate this alien intruder tainted with human scent.